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= Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail =
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Introduction
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The Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail, also known as the Jesse McHugh Rail
Trail, is a 3.22 mi rail trail between the village of Walden and the
neighboring hamlet of Wallkill. The two communities are located in
Orange County and Ulster County, respectively, in upstate New York.
The trail, like the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail to the north, is part
of the former Wallkill Valley Railroad's rail corridor. The railway
was the first to operate in Ulster County and transported goods and
people. Passenger service ended in 1937 due to declining customers,
and the opening of the New York State Thruway and decreased freight
traffic caused the line to close in 1957. The land was purchased by
the towns of Montgomery and Shawangunk in 1985 and converted to a
public trail. The portion of the trail in Shawangunk was formally
opened in 1993 and named after former town supervisor Jesse McHugh.
Plans to pave the trail between Walden and Wallkill were first
discussed in 2001, and the route was finally paved between 2008 and
2009. The trail includes an unofficial, unimproved section to the
north of Wallkill, and is bounded by New York State Route 52 and NY
208.
Rise and decline of the railroad
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Stretching 33 mi from Montgomery to Kingston, the Wallkill Valley
Railroad began operation in 1866, the first railroad to operate in
Ulster County. Construction from Montgomery began in 1868, and the
line was open to Wallkill that same year.
The railroad allowed inventor Gail Borden to distribute his dairy
products more widely; Borden patented the process for creating
condensed milk in 1854 and the Borden family subsequently owned a
series of milk companies in the area. By 1870, newspaper editors had
attributed the rapid development and increasing land prices in Walden
and its surrounding area to the railroad.
Ridership decreased more than 90% between 1893 and 1931, dropping to
just one person per day by the time passenger service ceased in 1937.
The line remained open to freight traffic. After the opening of the
New York State Thruway and the closure of other rail lines, the
Wallkill's stations were closed in 1957. The last regular freight run
through the line was on December 31, 1977. In the 1980s, Conrail, then
the owner of the Wallkill Valley line, attempted to sell the former
rail corridor. The towns of Montgomery and Shawangunk - in Orange
County and Ulster County, respectively - purchased their sections of
the rail line to allow "development of a commercial corridor [as well
as] utility easements and access" to a local reservoir.
Development of the corridor
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The Montgomery section consisted of 2 mi from the village of Walden to
the town line with Shawangunk, and the Shawangunk section ran 2.3 mi
north from the town line to Birch Road. The purchases were completed
in August and October 1985, respectively. In November of that year,
the New York State Department of Correctional Services bought 1.4 mi
of the former corridor in Shawangunk's hamlet of Wallkill, near the
Wallkill Correctional Facility. This portion extends from Birch Road
to the town line with Gardiner. The Shawangunk Correctional Facility
was built at that location. South of Walden, the corridor remains an
active rail line operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway.
North of the prisons, the former corridor continues as the separate
Wallkill Valley Rail Trail. Rail trail enthusiasts have been trying to
find a way to combine the two rail trails since the 1990s, and in 2004
the town of Shawangunk commissioned an open space study that
identified possible ways to accomplish such a connection. A 2008
Ulster County transportation plan included projects to connect the
trails, and the town of Shawangunk considered plans to connect the
trails by diverting the corridor along Birch Road. The original route
of the corridor is 40 ft within the prisons' perimeter fence,
extending for half a mile within the prison grounds.
The portion of the former corridor running through the center of
Wallkill was converted to a road, Railroad Avenue. The southern part
of the route, running from Wallkill to the Montgomery-Shawangunk town
line, was officially opened as the Jesse McHugh Rail Trail on June 5,
1993. Jesse McHugh was a former Shawangunk town supervisor. The
northern portion of the Shawangunk section, which stretches to the
border of the prison grounds, is maintained by the town but not
officially part of the trail.
Maintaining the rail trail
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In 2001, Shawangunk, Montgomery and Walden began applying for over
$600,000 in TEA-21 grants to create a paved, accessible trail between
Walden and Wallkill compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990. The total cost of paving the trail was expected to be
$750,000, though it eventually ballooned to $1.5 million. The decision
to pave the trail was vehemently opposed by horseback riders who felt
it would endanger them, and protested at several public meetings by
the Mid-Hudson Horse Trails Association. The decision was also opposed
by nearby homeowners who believed an increase in trail use would
threaten their privacy.
In October 2003, Walden, Shawangunk and Montgomery acquired the
$600,000 grant needed to begin paving the trail. Two months later, Bob
and Doris Kimball, a couple in Montgomery, donated 20 acre of their
land to create a park by the trail near Lake Osiris Road. The park is
expected to be developed once funds are available to do so. Nearly
$200,000 in funding to complete pavement of the trail was lost when
the outgoing 109th Congress did not approve a 2006 budget bill. In
February 2008, Congressman Maurice Hinchey announced the appropriation
of $351,000 to complete the project. Construction began on September
22, 2008, and the paved 3.22 mi trail opened on May 2, 2009. Flooding
from hurricanes in 2011 caused a cave-in along the Montgomery section
of the trail. The storms eroded much of the ground beneath the trail,
causing the ground to sink. In 2012 the cost of fully repairing the
trail was estimated to be $214,000.
Emergency trail repairs in Walden were performed in 2014; Montgomery
and Shawangunk are each responsible for maintenance of the trail
within their respective towns. The trail was expected to receive a
sealcoating in spring 2022.
Plans to connect the Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail with the Wallkill
Valley Rail were deprioritized for decades due to complications
involving the prisons. At one point there was an active farm on the
prison grounds, where inmates would work and walk the grounds
unimpeded. Since that time, the Wallkill facility has had its security
increased; an extra fence has been put up, increasing the likelihood
of connecting the trails through the property.
Route
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The trail begins at the 9.4 acre Wooster Grove Park in the village of
Walden, near NY 52. There is a visitor center for rail trail users at
the park. The park also contains Walden's former train station, which
has since been renovated as a recreational facility.
The trail continues 1 mi north from the trailhead before reaching Lake
Osiris Road, continuing another 1+1/4 mi to the Montgomery-Shawangunk
town line. Once in Shawangunk, the trail passes by the Borden Estate,
a mansion built in 1906 by the granddaughter of Gail Borden. The trail
borders the estate on the east.
About 3/4 mi from the town line, the trail reaches its Wallkill
trailhead bordering NY 208, directly across the street from the
Shawangunk police station. The paved section between Walden and
Wallkill is flat, with only a 3% grade. A portion of the former
corridor in central Wallkill has since been converted to a road.
An unimproved northern section in Wallkill extends 1+1/2 mi from the
intersection of Railroad Avenue and C. E. Penny Drive to Birch Road.
Birch Road marks the border between the former corridor and two state
prisons. This section passes through unmarked private hunting grounds.
While the total length of the trail is officially only about 3 mi, the
inclusion of the northern section increases its length to about 4+1/2
mi. The trail is used for walking, jogging, bicycling and dog walking.
External links
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* [https://www.traillink.com/trail/walden-wallkill-rail-trail-/
Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail] on TrailLink
Municipal home pages:
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Videos:
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License
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden–Wallkill_Rail_Trail